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Articles Posted inForm 1 – 5320.1 Manufacture

We are all familiar with the inconsistency of the ATF. The ATF has changed their position on the Sib Brace (SB-15) with a pistol. While the ATF, still states that it is legal to use the SB-15 as intended (strapped to your wrist), they have reversed their position on using the SB-15 when shouldered.

You may remember that earlier this year, ATF stated that since the SB-15 is not intended to be fired from the shoulder, the misuse of an individual would not change the classification of the firearm. See the March ATF SB-15 letter

We believe that this is the correct decision and interpretation. The problem is that someone else recently asked the same question and got a very different answer. ATF has now stated that the misuse of the SB-15 (being fired from the shoulder) does create an SBR and make the pistol subject to the NFA.

This is another one of those issues where the answer is not can you do but what should you do. Technically, you do not have to have a copy of your Form 1 or Form 4 for anyone other than the Attorney General, the ATF or an agent or investigator upon request.

Some recent case law has stated that a police officer is not an investigator or agent or the ATF and as such has no right to request to see your ATF form. I cannot believe the amount of money and or the risk that the individual took when a copy of the document on your cell phone or in your gun bag would have avoided the issue. In addition, there is nothing to state that a judge in your state or where you are asked for the paperwork would rule the same way.

The NFA requires that a person possessing a firearm registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) retains proof of registration which must be made available to the Attorney General, specifically an ATF agent or investigator, upon request.

So the answer is you might not need to if you are willing to spend months and thousands of dollars should you be arrested, but the smart move would be to have a copy with you to avoid all the potential problems.

ATF is pleased to announce the availability of revised ATF Form 1, Application to Make and Register a Firearm, and ATF Form 5, Application for Tax Exempt Transfer and Registration of Firearm.

The ATF Form 1 has been revised to allow the payment of the making tax by use of a credit or debit card. This is a new option that was requested by the industry. Payment by check or money order will still be allowed when the application is submitted on paper.

The Form 1 and Form 5 have been revised to incorporate the questions relating to non-immigrant status that are contained in ATF Form 5330.20, Certification of Compliance with 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(5)(B). Form 5330.20 is to be submitted when the applicant maker is an individual, not a legal entity. With a submission of the revised Form 1, the submission of Form 5330.20 will not be required. This revision was also requested by the industry.

For eForm filings, the prior version of the Forms 1 and 5 will continue to be used until we are able to update the form versions in the eForms system. Since the eForm 1 may only be filed by legal entities or government agencies and the eForm 5 is for transfer by a qualified Federal firearms licensee when the transferee is a government agency, the answering of the questions is not required as they are for an individual applicant maker or transferee.

When these forms become available we will post links to them and provide instructions for completeing them.

We understand that ATF has approved a number of applications to permit Gun Trusts to manufacture machine guns and then rescinded the tax stamp to make the machine gun.

Many others have reported to us today that their Form 1 was disapproved by the ATF with the following reason:

Reasons For Disapproval

THE GUN CONTROL ACT OF 1968 (GCA), AS AMENDED, PROHIBITS ANY PERSON FROM POSSESSING A MACHINEGUN NOT LAWFULLY POSSESSED AND REGISTERED PRIOR TO MAY 19, 1986. SEE 18 U.S.c. § 922(0). THE GCA DEFINES THE TERM “PERSON” TO “INCLUDE ANY INDIVIDUAL, CORPORATION, COMPANY, ASSOCIATION, FIRM, PARTNERSHIP, SOCIETY, OR JOINT STOCK COMPANY.” SEE 18 U.S.c. § 921(A)(1). PURSUANT TO THE NFA, 26 U.S.c. § 5822, AND IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS, 27 C.F.R. § 4 79.105(A), ATF MAY NOT APPROVE ANY PRIVATE PERSON’S APPLICATION TO MAKE AND REGISTER A MACHINEGUN AFTER MAY 19, 1986.

THE FACT THAT AN UNINCORPORATED TRUST IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE DEFINITION OF “PERSON” UNDER THE GCA DOES NOT MEAN THAT AN INDIVIDUAL MAY AVOID LIABILITY UNDER SECTION 922(0) BY PLACING A MACHINEGUN “IN TRUST.” CONSEQUENTLY, IN TERMS OF AN UNINCORPORATED TRUST, ATF MUST DISREGARD SUCH A NON-ENTITY UNDER THE GCA AND CONSIDER THE INDIVIDUAL ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE TRUST TO BE THE PROPOSED MAKER/POSSESSOR OF THE MACHINE GUN.

It would seem that the ATF does not consider their approval to be governmental authority. The personal possession has an exception that deals with machine guns under the authority of the government.

If you received an approval and it was receinded and would like to explore your options please contact us.

I recently published an article on Gun Trusts and an amazing 1 day approval. I felt that this was an unusual circumstance and decided to submit an electronic ATF Form 1 back on July 26th using my personal Gun Trust to test out the current time for approvals on using a Trust from a Gun Trust Lawyer®.

While I was not surprised to have not received an approval on July 27th, I have been checking the status regularly. I was surprised to receive an approval early Saturday morning August 2, 2014. This approval was not anywhere as quick as our clients 1 day approval, but only took 35 days to get approved which is amazing considering that many are reporting 9-14 months for a paper approvals. Not only was the approval quick, but the email notification came with an attachment which contained a copy of my Form 1. The process for printing the approval was more complex than it needed to be and I guess that the ATF decided they could cut down on the amount of communication and support by just sending a copy. A wise move by the ATF.

Please let us know about your approval times so we can see if others are experiencing similar results.

Recently, I had an electronic version of a Form 1 approved by the ATF for my Gun Trust and wanted to clarify what is required for engraving.

ATF 5300.4

In 27 CFR 479.102 (page 92) describes what is necessary to engrave on a SBR or SBS when one is manufacturing. This is not necessary if you purchase one that is already manufactured as it will have been done for you.

1) On the Frame or Receiver the Serial number;
2) on the frame, receiver, or barrel the following additional information;

A)The model;
B)The caliber or gage;
C)Your name or name of the Trust in the case of a Trust (no abbreviations are permitted for the Trust name);
D)The city and state (you can abbreviate the state with the official 2 digit state code)

The above mentioned information must be engraved, casted, stamped (impressing) or otherwise conspicuously placed or caused to be engraved, cast, stamped (impressed) or placed to a minimum depth of .003 inch and in a print size of the Serial number shall be no smaller than 1/16 inch.

As an interesting side note, my gun was manufactured in Jacksonville, FL so the city and state were already engraved. When I asked ATF, if I needed to engrave Jacksonville, FL, they said yes and pointed me to an ATF Ruling on adopting identification of FIrearms from 2013.

Based on the ATF letter requiring NICS checks for Trusts, the ATF may have accidentally opened the registry for new Machine Guns when registered in the name of a trust which is not a person under the GCA.

The Prince Law Blog quotes the same letter I wrote about a few days ago where the ATF determined that “Unlike individuals, corporations, partnerships, and associations; unincorporated trusts do not fall within the definition of “person” in the GCA.” And therefore, as a result,

Because unincorporated trusts are not “persons” under the GCA, a Federal firearms licensee (FFL) cannot transfer firearms to them without complying with the GCA. Thus, when an FFL transfers an NFA firearm to a trustee or other person acting on behalf of a trust, the transfer is made to this person as an individual (i.e., not as a trust). As the trustee or other person acting on behalf of the trust is not the approved transferee under the NFA, 18 U.S.C. 5812, the trustee or other person acting on behalf of a trust must undergo a NICS check. The individual must also be a resident of the same State as the FFL when receiving the firearm.

So, ATF, trying to be cute and find a way to require NICS checks without Congressional action, declared trusts not to fit the definition of a “person” under the GCA. No big deal, especially for us in Pennsylvania, as Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) checks are already required for all NFA firearms, except silencers. But, not so quick…let’s look at Section 922(o) of the Gun Control Act…

Section 922(o) provides:

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), it shall be unlawful for any person to transfer or possess a machinegun.
(2) This subsection does not apply with respect to-
(A) a transfer to or by, or possession by or under the authority of, the United States or any department or agency thereof or a State, or a department, agency, or political subdivision thereof; or (B) any lawful transfer or lawful possession of a machinegun that was lawfully possessed before the date this subsection takes effect.

So, we have a prohibition on any “person” transferring or possessing a machinegun which was not lawfully registered before May 19, 1986. BUT, an unincorporated trust is not a “person” under the GCA, so this provision cannot apply to it.

In turning to the National Firearms Act, as amended, 26 U.S.C. 5801, et seq., we find that a “person” is defined as including a trust, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 7701. Yet, there exists no 922(o)esque provision in Section 5801, et seq.

Therefore, pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 5812 and 5822, an unincorporated trust may lawfully transfer and make machineguns, as it is not a “person” for purposes of the GCA and Section 922 only applies to “persons” as defined by the GCA.

Before anyone rushes to complete a Form 1 to make a new machine gun, they should understand that the ATF will likely reject this and if they want to push the issue they should be expect to litigate the issue. Even if litigating there is no guarantee of prevailing.

That being said, I believe I will submit a Form 1 for permission to manufacture a new machine gun along with a memo regarding the issues so that the opportunity to litigate the issue would be available after an expected rejection.

Today I decided to check ATF eForms and it was back online for Form 6’s. The good news is it does show the status of previously submitted eForms. I was able to to see that a Form 1 I submitted at the end of November of 2013 was approved today. When ATF emails you confirmation of the approval it does not send you a copy of the form at the same time. If you want one or to make a electronic copy of the approved form, you can click on the approved forms section, then select the form by clicking on the one you want to view.

Next click the eye all the way at the right of the listing one you want.

Then you can select the View Form and PDF of the approved form will show in your browser or it will be downloaded.

While this may seem complicated, its not that hard and will allow you to make an electronic copy of your Form 1 and let you start shooting on the day you get the confirmation from the ATF
We also heard that ATF may have all functionality to eForms restored within 20 days which would be great news for those with Gun Trusts wanting to submit electronically.

If you were planning on submitting a form electronically to save time, you may not be able to use eForms. I logged onto the ATF eForms website yesterday and saw the following message:

The eForms software is not performing to our expectations. As a result, we are taking the eForms system down until further notice. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work with our industry partners to deliver a quality product. Any eForm submitted will continue to be processed. The finalized forms will be sent to the user via email.

Until the eForms system is returned to service for the industry, all imports forms (Forms 6 Part I and 6A), NFA forms (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9 and 10), and AFMER reports (Form 5300.11) must be submitted via paper, including any eForms in draft status.

Copy of submitted or finalized eForm Direct a request to eForms.Request@atf.govStatus queries
Contact the NFA Branch at (304) 616-4550 Contact the Firearms and Explosives Imports Branch at (304) 616-4550 Other eForms questions
Direct the question to eForms.admin@atf.gov

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